Bluffton goes on alert for Irene

An image released by the NOAA made from the GEOS East satellite shows Hurricane Irene on Aug. 23, 2011 as it passes over Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The storm is on a track that could see it reach the U.S. Southeast as a major storm by the end of the week. (AP Photo/NOAA)

It's not time to run for safety, but it is time for everyone to make or review disaster evacuation plans in case Hurricane Irene threatens a Beaufort County landfall later this week, state and local officials said Monday.

South Carolina, Beaufort County and Bluffton emergency management officials were monitoring Irene's path and strength on Monday in case activation of the emergency operations center is needed.

"Hurricane Irene is off the coast. Early models suggest she could come this way," Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton said Monday.

"Prayers may be in order. ... We don't wish that storm goes to somebody else, but we do wish it goes somewhere other than here," Newton said.

"We are now at OPCON 4. By way of explanation, we are at OPCON 5 during all of hurricane season. OPCON 4 is merely a notification condition," he said. "It's a higher state of alert," he said.

Newton told his fellow council members at Monday's council meeting in Beaufort he would keep them informed of any new developments "including conference calls with the governor's office."

Both the South Carolina and Beaufort County emergency management divisions increased their states of operational readiness to Operational Condition 4, the second lowest of five operational conditions, before releases made at 2 p.m. Monday, officials said.

Beaufort County residents "should always be aware and alert of what's going on out there. We do live on the coast," said David Zeoli, Beaufort County Emergency Management Division deputy director.

"We are not activated at this time," Zeoli said Monday afternoon. "We are continuing to monitor the storm track. We are staying in contact with the National Weather Service throughout the day to keep abreast of any storm track changes that we need to be concerned about. Right now, all we can really do is monitor it."

If Irene keeps tracking farther eastward, it will be good for Beaufort County, he said. If Irene stayed on her direct path, she appeared to be heading more toward northern South Carolina and North Carolina.

There are many variables including a storm's approach, speed and category in determining when an evacuation is required. "We want to get people out of there in advance of a tropical storm hitting," Zeoli said.

He encouraged people to "please consider what is your plan, and not wait to the last minute."

Beaufort County's most recent mandatory evacuation was in September 1999 for Hurricane Floyd, which spared the Lowcountry and made landfall in North Carolina, killing 52 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The town of Bluffton also went to the OPCON 4 on Monday, said Deputy Growth Management Director Frank Hodge, the town's emergency disaster coordinator.

Noting hurricane paths can change, Hodge said periodic updates from the National Weather Service Hurricane Center so far showed the storm tracking away from Bluffton.

"It keeps going north and north and more north, now it looks like its going to make landfall in Myrtle Beach," he said.

"As far as the town goes right now we are at OPCON 4, and that means we are just watching and waiting for information from the emergency operations center in Beaufort County."

OPCON 4 is a sign that an evacuation could be ordered within 72 hours, according to the Associated Press.

The next level, OPCON 3, "is when you start spending money on hurricane preparedness," Hodge said.

In Columbia, "The South Carolina Emergency Management Division is paying close attention to Hurricane Irene, and as a result of the storm's projected movement, key agencies in South Carolina government have been notified to be ready to respond if the need arises," state division spokesman Derrec Becker said.

"People in potentially vulnerable areas should review their plans and consider actions they would need to take if the storm threatens South Carolina. The public should monitor the storm on NOAA weather radio and through local news media, especially people in low-lying areas along the South Carolina coast."

At 5 p.m. Monday, Irene was a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, about 215 miles south of Grand Turk Island and aiming for the Bahamas, the National Weather Service Hurricane Center said in Public Advisory No. 9.

The five-day track showed a cone extending across all of the Carolinas, Georgia's eastern half and southern Virginia. The chart forecasted Irene would pass Florida's northeast coast at 2 p.m. Friday and showed the center track at Myrtle Beach at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Strengthening was forecast to 5 p.m. Wednesday, "and Irene could be near major hurricane strength as it moves over the central Bahamas," according to the National Weather Service.

At 5 p.m. Monday, Irene She was moving west northwest at 13 mph, with a minimum pressure of 988 mb and maximum sustained winds near 80 mph.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the north coast of the Dominican Republic from the Haiti border eastward to Cabo Engano, the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern and central Bahamas.

Hurricane conditions were expected to reach the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands today and the central Bahamas by late today and Wednesday.